Leviticus 20:22-27

22 And ye shall observe all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them, that the land whither I bring you to dwell therein vomit you not out.
23 And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for all these things have they done, and they became an abomination to me.
24 And I have said unto you, Ye shall possess their land, and I will give it unto you for a possession; a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who have separated you from the peoples.
25 And ye shall make a separation between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean, and ye shall not make yourselves an abomination by beast, or by fowl, or by anything that creepeth on the ground which I have separated for you, declaring [it] as unclean.
26 And ye shall be holy unto me; for I Jehovah am holy, and have separated you from the peoples to be mine.
27 And if there be a man or a woman in whom is a spirit of Python or of divination, they shall certainly be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood is upon them.

Leviticus 20:22-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 20

In this chapter several laws are, repeated, enforced with a penalty annexed to them, and the breach them made capital, to deter from it, as giving seed to Molech, Le 20:1-5; going after such that have familiar spirits, or are wizards, Le 20:6; by shunning which, and other sins, a regard would be shown to holiness, Le 20:7,8; such as cursing parents, Le 20:9; committing adultery, Le 20:10; incestuous copulations, and marriages, and beastly actions, Le 20:11-21; all which it became the Israelites to avoid, lest, when come into the land of Canaan, they should be cast out of it, as the old inhabitants were for the same things, Le 20:22-24; and therefore, that they might appear to be a distinct people from others, they were to put a difference between clean and unclean creatures, Le 20:25,26; and the chapter is closed with a law, making it death for any person to have a familiar spirit, or to be a wizard, Le 19:27.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Lit. 'your souls.'
  • [b]. Or 'who is a necromancer or a soothsayer.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.